Films that bring previously obscured truths about the political process to the attention of the public, showing for example how offices of public trust are used for private purposes.
JIMMY’S HALL EXPOSES A SECRET ABOUT IRELAND In a biopic of Jimmy Gralton (played by Barry Ward), director Ken Loach has brought to public attention an episode that was long forgotten—and deliberately so by the Irish authorities from the 1930s to the 1970s. As Jimmy’s Hall begins, titles remind filmviewers of the fight for Irish […]
NOBLE GOES FROM IRELAND TO VIETNAM AND HITS THE JACKPOT A biopic of Christina Nobel (played by Deirdre O’Kane), the film Nobel features an Irishwoman from her life as a toddler in 1955 to her arrival in Vietnam during 1989 and beyond in a quest to save children from much of the same destitution that
WOMAN IN GOLD CELEBRATES A VICTORY OVER WAR CRIMES Article 46 of the Second Hague Convention of 1899, which requires military occupation authorities to respect private property, was not honored by the Nazis. Instead, they looted some 100,000 works of art, many of which were never returned to the owners after war. Some ended up
KILL THE MESSENGER SHOWS HOW TO DISCREDIT AN HONEST REPORTER During 1985-1987, members of the Reagan administration persuaded Israel to sell guns to Iran in exchange for the release of Americans held hostage in Lebanon by a group connected with Iran. The United States Central Intelligence Agency then sold replacement weapons to Israel and used
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DIFRET EXPLAINS HOW ETHIOPIA STOPPED BRIDE ABDUCTIONS According to Ethiopian tradition, husbands seize brides after consultation with parents by the macho act of abducting them and having sex with them. But during 1986 in a farming area three hours from Addis Ababa 14-year-old Hirut (played by Tizita Hagere) does not like Tadele (Girma Teshome), the
THE IMITATION GAME EXPOSES HOW A GAY CRYPTOGRAPHER SHORTENED WW2 Up to 1967, consensual sexual acts between male adults in Britain could result in two years of imprisonment. The most celebrated case is that of Oscar Wilde in 1895, whose health so declined in prison that died three years after his release. A lesser known
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Although Daily Show Jon Stewart claims that he has not directed a “political film,” he is not fooling anyone: Titles at the end of Rosewater note that hundreds of journalists have been at risk of their lives for trying to let the world know what is happening. The film focuses on Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari
BHOPAL: A PRAYER FOR RAIN SHOWS HOW THE PRAYER WAS ANSWERED In 1984, 40 tons of chemicals leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, resulting ultimately in some 22,000 deaths and 550,000 injuries. Two years earlier, the company was warned about the problem, as alarm and safety systems were scaled back to
GIOVANNI’S ISLAND PROVES THAT A FABLE CAN SERVE TO SUSTAIN HOPE An animated Japanese film, the historical setting of Giovanni’s Island (Jobanni no shima) is another occupation—Russia’s seizure of Shikotan, a Japanese northern island—which took place after the surrender on August 15, 1945, is announced by the emperor. Kanta and Junpei are been named respectively
PREJUDICES ARE OVERCOME IN PRIDE During London’s gay pride parade of June 30, 1984, miners were on strike throughout Britain, harassed by the police and given the cold shoulder by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Mark Ashton (played by Ben Schnetzer) provokes his fellow gays to support the miners financially, as both gays and miners suffer